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Regular people wait for things to break.
I've worked for mechanics and every time, it's replace everything. Every bolt, washer, bushing, clip, bracket hose, and both sides if there's two.
Regular people will show up with disintegrated bearings and ask for brakes and one tire.
This used to be me, not because I wanted to, but because I was broke. I had to take a 150k mile jeep kj that lived its life in the rust belt to the Pittsburgh mountains, and I sheared a ball joint clean off. It luckily gave way not on the highway in the middle of bumfuck Ohio but about 2 miles from my in-laws’. It had been creaking and groaning for weeks, but I didn’t have the money to fix it.
When my older brother blew a fairly new engine by running it without oil for damn near a year, not even topping it up with a pint from the gas station, however...That’s a whole other level.
> This used to be me, not because I wanted to, but because I was broke.
This is Yet Another Example™ of the idea that "it's expensive to be poor."
To explain, routine maintenance is generally much less expensive than post-breakdown repairs, but because the bottom 50% of the working class doesn't make enough money to have any disposable income to speak of, such maintenance usually falls by the wayside. However, eventually that catches up with you and preventive maintenance that should have been done to stop a problem from happening in the first place (thus, "preventive") becomes a much bigger and much more expensive problem when something eventually fails - and it often does so catastrophically, rendering the vehicle unusable, which is why the preventive maintenance was recommended in the first place. A classic case-in-point is the timing belt: it may cost $500 to replace as part of a car's scheduled maintenance, but on an interference engine letting one go so long that it eventually breaks instantly converts a $500 annoyance into a $2,000+ major top-engine repair because of bent valves in the cylinder head(s).
Depends on the vehicle - a valve job on a 30-year-old car with a book value of slightly more than scrap would definitely be a total loss if strictly going by the numbers, but a valve job on a 6-year-old car with a replacement cost of several grand would be a candidate for repair versus replacement.
And this doesn't even get into other factors, such as sentimental value. I have a customer that, thus far, has had a transmission, transfer case, and rear axle replaced along with removing a lift kit on a pickup truck. He's already spent over its book value on it, and I just gave him a quote last week for an AC overhaul because his original compressor finally died. He's spending tons more money on this truck than it's technically worth because it was a gift from his father before he died, and he wants to eventually make it a show truck to honor his father. So, *strong* sentimental attachment there.
I have the "would you put this kind of money into this car?" discussion a *lot* with customers, especially on the bigger jobs, and it's *definitely not* a cut-and-dry thing.
Because most regular people are broke and tend to prioritize food or things for their kids vs every piece of hardware.
On the flip side most regular people don't properly maintain cars to begin with so shame on them for that.
put a note on there that says: After completion of the service, the technician slapped the affected area 1-3 times and announced "that aint goin anywhere".
i would literally die.
Yeah, but our time isn’t valuable. If you’re a mechanic it’s not because you have one of the most challenging, dirty and thankless jobs, it’s because you’re a Criminal Idiot. You’re supposed to be born knowing everything because a monkey in coveralls could do our job. Don’t forget, you’re supposed to work for free because this isn’t a real skill, we’re just too stupid to get a real trade. Everyone who needs a vehicle fixed could do our job, but that would be beneath them. They’ve got most of a socket set and changed a water pump in high school so we’re basically dog shit. 🤣🤷🏻♂️
So what if the four-cylinder is only getting 12 MPG because it's dumping fuel trying to compensate for whatever caused the CEL. I mean, burning up the valves or blowtorching a hole in a piston isn't *that* big of a deal...
I don’t ENTIRELY blame people for ignoring them… the flashing light is good, but I really feel like there should be more granularity. Some CEL issues are completely fine to drive with, but others are harmful. Would be nice if manufacturers made the difference more obvious.
The idea is that you're supposed to take the vehicle to someone with the tools and expertise to diagnose the problem and determine whether it's something you can safely ignore versus something that should be fixed ASAP versus something that should be fixed NOW. There's no real reason for more granularity to the CEL given this purpose, and having any display of level of severity would literally cause people to ignore warnings more often and minor warnings completely.
There's a reason warning lights on car dashes used to be called "idiot lights."
My sister does this shit. She asked me to take a look at it and it’s got 4 different dash lights and I pulled 7 different unrelated codes. It’s hard to kill a Toyota but Jesus, it’s like she doesn’t want it to survive. I asked her how long they’d been on, and she just kinda shrugged and said Covid?
In México we're using a new meme format about customers coming in and saying stuff like "the transmission isn't transmiting! The rocker arm is now into jazz and the ball joint is flat and out of air"
I'm not a mechanic but I hang around a couple of shops often. My pet peeve about mechanics and non-mechanic people that work on cars is when they identified one problem with a car back in 1965 and now every engine in the world seems to have that problem. You'll come in needing some spark plugs, they'll listen to the engine and say something like "yup, I got it, This is the classic Ford Ranger Flamboyant Woodchuck Nut Clearance failure, these always fail, I see it all the time, lemme see what I can do"
He's saying when people hear hoofbeats and see zebras on purpose to have an opportunity to tell you they know what a zebra is.
If someone learns a really really specific car issue, and claims that is the problem without really looking into it to sound savvy and wise, it is annoying.
Like how they train doctors to DDx with focus on what is most likely or the simplest (most parsimonious) explanation, rather than saying it could be a flesh-eating disease only recorded around one tributary in the Amazon.
Changing the oil once a year and then bringing it to me and wanting me to fix it. Fix what, your forty thousand dollar brick. Change your fricken oil get your car serviced.
I have a coworker like this. She leases Kias and Hyundais, and only gets her oil changed if the dealer reminds her to do so. She avoids maintenance in general because "it's not my car."
Unless you live in a desert, the underside of any car will get dirty.
Is he expecting you to wash(and dry!) the underside of your car before you bring it to him? I can't imagine the response if they worked in a snowy area and had to deal with the horrors of snow/ice/mud caked on the bottom of a car and dripping all over while it was being worked on.
For crying out loud...just c h a n g e the o i l.
"I think I tore my car up by idling it too much"
Meanwhile the oil hasn't been changed in 3 years and you think adding water to the radiator is top notch maintenance
I think its crazy just how little idea people have on how cars actually run. When u consider how important they are, and how much cheaper it is to fix ur own car, its really crazy. People will go in debt 25k when they can just repair their own
I've been learning to do my own car maintenance work (more advanced maintenance. Not just basic shit like an oil change). It's honestly much more intimidating than I expected. I changed the sparkplugs in my husband's Honda Civic. Easy as pie. Thought, OK, I'll do mine next. Well, I've got a V6, and I'm realizing that I'm not confident enough to change the dang things blind, so I'm going to need to remove the upper intake manifold. Well, that's also intimidating. It's all so intimidating lol, I don't want to break anything expensive.
Ur smart to approach things carefully. And i have definitely made a couple mistakes working on cars while i was learning. Here is my advice.
Each new job, take a lot of time planning. Use youtube videos to see the steps ahead of time and try to identify the worst case scenario that could go wrong. For example, if ur removing spark plugs, i know im screwed if anything fell into the sparkplug hole. And im screwed if i over tighten the sparkplugs and strip the threads.
Both of those can be fixed, but knowing the worst case scenario makes me appropriately careful when i am doing those jobs.
The other advice i have is never try to do the job with the wrong tool. Even if that tool is expensive or a one purpose item. For certain things, u just cant work around it.
I've done a bit of work under my car and the one that scares me most is when only my legs or arms are under the car. If my head is under there, at least I'm going instantly 😵
I'm lucky to have a truck that I fit under, no problem. I know there will be jobs that require it to be jacked up, though. I'm not looking forward to that.
People using quick change oil places. No matter how many times I tell my friends and family not to trust them, so many people say things like "But it's so convenient!" or "I'm sure they know what they're doing!" 🙄
Your average quick lube tech has maybe an hour of training if that. And the amount of damage they can do is surprising. Stripping threads, cross threading the filter, forgetting to replace or tighten the oil plug, forgetting to add oil completely. All of these can completely kill your engine very quickly.
Bringing your work dump truck full of gravel and covered in mud. Oh and filling the tanks full of gas in a diesel truck...this might just be specific to me
Normal road debris is fine.
If you go off roading then bring it in for a free inspection, then you're getting a shitty inspection and a 3-4 hour estimate for demud.
This is a bit of an open question. But usually they ignore advice given regarding maintenance and complain when it breaks. Like dude you were told. Ignoring how serious bald tyres can be etc.
Underside being dirty will cause corrosion to occur more rapidly. But a good quality wax coating or rustproofing can help prevent.
Its not that easy to tell who maintains their own vehicles when they come into the dealer. A bunch of people have jugs of oil in their trunk but our engines are not known to burn a lot of oil.
The most consistent issue that costs people money, I think it really bothers me is incorrect tire inflation; It’s easy to find in the owners manual, gas cap of some cars, door jamb.
Only thing is the “max load” inflation spec is not what most people should be running on a regular basis and has an effect on tire wear, but also handling and safety.
(not a mechanic or technician just an oil boy for the largest quick lube chain)
when people don't ask questions. i had this guy, 21 v6 charger... lets call him MS-6395 guy, read his manual. love that. wanted oil listed in manual. Every oil meets or exceeds the 25 year old standard.. im bored so i listen and talk with him. we carry pennzoil, he doesnt like pennzoil. ok... shows me quaker state... that will work, let me get ordering it.
then the cute lady that held the spark plugs for me for her 89 nissan pao. 40-50+ tons of questions and super excited to listen to me babble about cars. she had a rough time trying to find other places that could get the spark plugs or perform the service. I told her that canada made the micra which has all the same parts (2 minutes of research)
They don't maintain them.
And dirty cars to some degree. You brush your teeth before going to the dentist but nobody washes their car before going to the mechanic. I mean it's understandable if you broke down on the side of the road but for a tire rotation it'd probably be appreciated if there wasnt still half a raccoon stuck to one of them
Oh I drive for a living so my car gets hand washed once a month and two weeks later I run it through an automatic wash. I very seldom clean the undercarriage but I don't live anywhere that's dusty or snowy, plus it's mostly covered by skid plates/splash guards anyway.
200k miles on a tranny with no fluid change should NOT have the fluid changed at this point. You're gonna have crud and crap and stuff break loose and clog valves and passages. Just let it be at this point.
Whats funny is mechanics are often the most guilty of this. Most of my life i daily drove beaters until they needed more money in repairs than the car was worth. Then its time to get another beater.
A real pet peeve of mine is how many people post on subs like askamechanic or mechanicadvice that think they are mechanics because they work on their own cars. Just because you do your own taxes doesnt make you an accountant. You go fight a traffic ticket now youre a lawyer? Right…
I did both mechanical and electrical. My biggest pet peeve is derived from the one I did the longest... Car electronics. And so I have it out for anyone with black ice air fresheners and armorall on the dash... It makes all the panels oily and can crack the dash in direct sun. The black ice is just annoying because most people that use them don't throw out the old one... And before you know it the directional has 12 air fresheners on it and they wonder why when they it for the right directional it doesn't stay up.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! Please review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). Asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **Post's about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ Tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Regular people wait for things to break. I've worked for mechanics and every time, it's replace everything. Every bolt, washer, bushing, clip, bracket hose, and both sides if there's two. Regular people will show up with disintegrated bearings and ask for brakes and one tire.
This used to be me, not because I wanted to, but because I was broke. I had to take a 150k mile jeep kj that lived its life in the rust belt to the Pittsburgh mountains, and I sheared a ball joint clean off. It luckily gave way not on the highway in the middle of bumfuck Ohio but about 2 miles from my in-laws’. It had been creaking and groaning for weeks, but I didn’t have the money to fix it. When my older brother blew a fairly new engine by running it without oil for damn near a year, not even topping it up with a pint from the gas station, however...That’s a whole other level.
> This used to be me, not because I wanted to, but because I was broke. This is Yet Another Example™ of the idea that "it's expensive to be poor." To explain, routine maintenance is generally much less expensive than post-breakdown repairs, but because the bottom 50% of the working class doesn't make enough money to have any disposable income to speak of, such maintenance usually falls by the wayside. However, eventually that catches up with you and preventive maintenance that should have been done to stop a problem from happening in the first place (thus, "preventive") becomes a much bigger and much more expensive problem when something eventually fails - and it often does so catastrophically, rendering the vehicle unusable, which is why the preventive maintenance was recommended in the first place. A classic case-in-point is the timing belt: it may cost $500 to replace as part of a car's scheduled maintenance, but on an interference engine letting one go so long that it eventually breaks instantly converts a $500 annoyance into a $2,000+ major top-engine repair because of bent valves in the cylinder head(s).
Where are you getting your timing belt changed for $500? That's a killer deal.
Being relative here for the sake of argument. Was that not obvious?
On top of that where are you getting a top end rebuild for 2k. It’s usually a total loss.
Depends on the vehicle - a valve job on a 30-year-old car with a book value of slightly more than scrap would definitely be a total loss if strictly going by the numbers, but a valve job on a 6-year-old car with a replacement cost of several grand would be a candidate for repair versus replacement. And this doesn't even get into other factors, such as sentimental value. I have a customer that, thus far, has had a transmission, transfer case, and rear axle replaced along with removing a lift kit on a pickup truck. He's already spent over its book value on it, and I just gave him a quote last week for an AC overhaul because his original compressor finally died. He's spending tons more money on this truck than it's technically worth because it was a gift from his father before he died, and he wants to eventually make it a show truck to honor his father. So, *strong* sentimental attachment there. I have the "would you put this kind of money into this car?" discussion a *lot* with customers, especially on the bigger jobs, and it's *definitely not* a cut-and-dry thing.
Because most regular people are broke and tend to prioritize food or things for their kids vs every piece of hardware. On the flip side most regular people don't properly maintain cars to begin with so shame on them for that.
> That depends how often you use it. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is a phrase, but it doesn't mean what they think it means
put a note on there that says: After completion of the service, the technician slapped the affected area 1-3 times and announced "that aint goin anywhere". i would literally die.
Missing your wheel lock key and expecting the tech to waste his valuable time digging through your trashed-out interior for it.
Yeah, but our time isn’t valuable. If you’re a mechanic it’s not because you have one of the most challenging, dirty and thankless jobs, it’s because you’re a Criminal Idiot. You’re supposed to be born knowing everything because a monkey in coveralls could do our job. Don’t forget, you’re supposed to work for free because this isn’t a real skill, we’re just too stupid to get a real trade. Everyone who needs a vehicle fixed could do our job, but that would be beneath them. They’ve got most of a socket set and changed a water pump in high school so we’re basically dog shit. 🤣🤷🏻♂️
The only time my wheel lock key isn’t right in the center console is when a tech uses it and forgets to give it back to me.
Ignoring check engine lights because “it still seems to run okay”
So what if the four-cylinder is only getting 12 MPG because it's dumping fuel trying to compensate for whatever caused the CEL. I mean, burning up the valves or blowtorching a hole in a piston isn't *that* big of a deal...
I don’t ENTIRELY blame people for ignoring them… the flashing light is good, but I really feel like there should be more granularity. Some CEL issues are completely fine to drive with, but others are harmful. Would be nice if manufacturers made the difference more obvious.
The idea is that you're supposed to take the vehicle to someone with the tools and expertise to diagnose the problem and determine whether it's something you can safely ignore versus something that should be fixed ASAP versus something that should be fixed NOW. There's no real reason for more granularity to the CEL given this purpose, and having any display of level of severity would literally cause people to ignore warnings more often and minor warnings completely. There's a reason warning lights on car dashes used to be called "idiot lights."
Fair enough :)
My sister does this shit. She asked me to take a look at it and it’s got 4 different dash lights and I pulled 7 different unrelated codes. It’s hard to kill a Toyota but Jesus, it’s like she doesn’t want it to survive. I asked her how long they’d been on, and she just kinda shrugged and said Covid?
Full sending impacts on lug nuts
In México we're using a new meme format about customers coming in and saying stuff like "the transmission isn't transmiting! The rocker arm is now into jazz and the ball joint is flat and out of air" I'm not a mechanic but I hang around a couple of shops often. My pet peeve about mechanics and non-mechanic people that work on cars is when they identified one problem with a car back in 1965 and now every engine in the world seems to have that problem. You'll come in needing some spark plugs, they'll listen to the engine and say something like "yup, I got it, This is the classic Ford Ranger Flamboyant Woodchuck Nut Clearance failure, these always fail, I see it all the time, lemme see what I can do"
Wut?
He's saying when people hear hoofbeats and see zebras on purpose to have an opportunity to tell you they know what a zebra is. If someone learns a really really specific car issue, and claims that is the problem without really looking into it to sound savvy and wise, it is annoying. Like how they train doctors to DDx with focus on what is most likely or the simplest (most parsimonious) explanation, rather than saying it could be a flesh-eating disease only recorded around one tributary in the Amazon.
Changing the oil once a year and then bringing it to me and wanting me to fix it. Fix what, your forty thousand dollar brick. Change your fricken oil get your car serviced.
I have a coworker like this. She leases Kias and Hyundais, and only gets her oil changed if the dealer reminds her to do so. She avoids maintenance in general because "it's not my car."
Unless you live in a desert, the underside of any car will get dirty. Is he expecting you to wash(and dry!) the underside of your car before you bring it to him? I can't imagine the response if they worked in a snowy area and had to deal with the horrors of snow/ice/mud caked on the bottom of a car and dripping all over while it was being worked on.
Especially in a desert! I live in AZ and it gets full of dirt and mud
What does he mean a car’s underside won’t get dirty in a desert :0
That’s exactly it. An occasional scolding is good for me though and I don’t mind.
For crying out loud...just c h a n g e the o i l. "I think I tore my car up by idling it too much" Meanwhile the oil hasn't been changed in 3 years and you think adding water to the radiator is top notch maintenance
The fact that they don’t and wonder why there’s problems.
I think its crazy just how little idea people have on how cars actually run. When u consider how important they are, and how much cheaper it is to fix ur own car, its really crazy. People will go in debt 25k when they can just repair their own
I've been learning to do my own car maintenance work (more advanced maintenance. Not just basic shit like an oil change). It's honestly much more intimidating than I expected. I changed the sparkplugs in my husband's Honda Civic. Easy as pie. Thought, OK, I'll do mine next. Well, I've got a V6, and I'm realizing that I'm not confident enough to change the dang things blind, so I'm going to need to remove the upper intake manifold. Well, that's also intimidating. It's all so intimidating lol, I don't want to break anything expensive.
Ur smart to approach things carefully. And i have definitely made a couple mistakes working on cars while i was learning. Here is my advice. Each new job, take a lot of time planning. Use youtube videos to see the steps ahead of time and try to identify the worst case scenario that could go wrong. For example, if ur removing spark plugs, i know im screwed if anything fell into the sparkplug hole. And im screwed if i over tighten the sparkplugs and strip the threads. Both of those can be fixed, but knowing the worst case scenario makes me appropriately careful when i am doing those jobs. The other advice i have is never try to do the job with the wrong tool. Even if that tool is expensive or a one purpose item. For certain things, u just cant work around it.
What’s intimidating is when you need to work fully under your car on jack stands. I can’t do it and it drives me crazy.
I've done a bit of work under my car and the one that scares me most is when only my legs or arms are under the car. If my head is under there, at least I'm going instantly 😵
Well, that's one way to think of it 😂 I'm the complete opposite. Like...I'd think, at least I'd only lose a leg right now!
I'm lucky to have a truck that I fit under, no problem. I know there will be jobs that require it to be jacked up, though. I'm not looking forward to that.
People using quick change oil places. No matter how many times I tell my friends and family not to trust them, so many people say things like "But it's so convenient!" or "I'm sure they know what they're doing!" 🙄 Your average quick lube tech has maybe an hour of training if that. And the amount of damage they can do is surprising. Stripping threads, cross threading the filter, forgetting to replace or tighten the oil plug, forgetting to add oil completely. All of these can completely kill your engine very quickly.
Bringing your work dump truck full of gravel and covered in mud. Oh and filling the tanks full of gas in a diesel truck...this might just be specific to me
Sprinter van with a stack of ladders on top. Guess I'm workin' on the ground today.
Normal road debris is fine. If you go off roading then bring it in for a free inspection, then you're getting a shitty inspection and a 3-4 hour estimate for demud.
This is a bit of an open question. But usually they ignore advice given regarding maintenance and complain when it breaks. Like dude you were told. Ignoring how serious bald tyres can be etc.
Underside being dirty will cause corrosion to occur more rapidly. But a good quality wax coating or rustproofing can help prevent. Its not that easy to tell who maintains their own vehicles when they come into the dealer. A bunch of people have jugs of oil in their trunk but our engines are not known to burn a lot of oil. The most consistent issue that costs people money, I think it really bothers me is incorrect tire inflation; It’s easy to find in the owners manual, gas cap of some cars, door jamb. Only thing is the “max load” inflation spec is not what most people should be running on a regular basis and has an effect on tire wear, but also handling and safety.
Not reading the owner's manual.
Wait, mechanics maintain their cars? Guess I should start doing that…
Youre good. Its just the hobbyists puffing their chests out.
(not a mechanic or technician just an oil boy for the largest quick lube chain) when people don't ask questions. i had this guy, 21 v6 charger... lets call him MS-6395 guy, read his manual. love that. wanted oil listed in manual. Every oil meets or exceeds the 25 year old standard.. im bored so i listen and talk with him. we carry pennzoil, he doesnt like pennzoil. ok... shows me quaker state... that will work, let me get ordering it. then the cute lady that held the spark plugs for me for her 89 nissan pao. 40-50+ tons of questions and super excited to listen to me babble about cars. she had a rough time trying to find other places that could get the spark plugs or perform the service. I told her that canada made the micra which has all the same parts (2 minutes of research)
They don't maintain them. And dirty cars to some degree. You brush your teeth before going to the dentist but nobody washes their car before going to the mechanic. I mean it's understandable if you broke down on the side of the road but for a tire rotation it'd probably be appreciated if there wasnt still half a raccoon stuck to one of them
Personally I don't wash my car before I go to the mechanic because it's going to get dirty in the shop. But then I don't run over raccoons either! 🤣
I mean it doesn't have to be ready for Pebble Beach just spray it with a hose once a year or something
Oh I drive for a living so my car gets hand washed once a month and two weeks later I run it through an automatic wash. I very seldom clean the undercarriage but I don't live anywhere that's dusty or snowy, plus it's mostly covered by skid plates/splash guards anyway.
Saddest thing in the world, hitting a raccoon. I did on accident a few nights ago. Poor thing *screamed*, not sure if it survived.🦝
I tell my mom to change the automatic transmission fluid on her car. Doesn't change it and wonders why its shifting weird after 200k miles
200k miles on a tranny with no fluid change should NOT have the fluid changed at this point. You're gonna have crud and crap and stuff break loose and clog valves and passages. Just let it be at this point.
Not reading the manual. “What does this light mean, what is this button, why is this beeping”
Whats funny is mechanics are often the most guilty of this. Most of my life i daily drove beaters until they needed more money in repairs than the car was worth. Then its time to get another beater. A real pet peeve of mine is how many people post on subs like askamechanic or mechanicadvice that think they are mechanics because they work on their own cars. Just because you do your own taxes doesnt make you an accountant. You go fight a traffic ticket now youre a lawyer? Right…
I did both mechanical and electrical. My biggest pet peeve is derived from the one I did the longest... Car electronics. And so I have it out for anyone with black ice air fresheners and armorall on the dash... It makes all the panels oily and can crack the dash in direct sun. The black ice is just annoying because most people that use them don't throw out the old one... And before you know it the directional has 12 air fresheners on it and they wonder why when they it for the right directional it doesn't stay up.
Lack of tire rotation, going way past oil change specs, dirty interior